EXCLUSIVE: Harriet Lauler (Shirley MacLaine) is a successful retired businesswoman who needs to control everything — including her obituary. So she hires young local writer Anne Sherman (Amanda Seyfried) to pen her life’s story. When the initial result doesn’t meet Harriet’s high expectations, she sets out to reshape the way she is remembered.

That’s the setup for The Last Word, a generational dramedy from director Mark Pellington and writer Stuart Fink that premieres at Sundance this week and opens March 3 via Bleecker Street. Here’s an exclusive clip that sees Lauler explaining the “four essential elements to a really great obituary” to a bemused Sherman. That fourth one is tricky — the wild card.

Anne Heche, Thomas Sadoski, Ann’Jewel Lee Dixon and Philip Baker Hall co-star in the film, which has its world premiere January 24 in Park City. Helmer Pellington also produces with Anne Marie MacKay of Wondros and Kirk D’Amico of Myriad Pictures.